The Digital 'Supper club'

So this week we were put into our theme tutorials - I have selected the "Digital 'supper club'" as my group - we are looking at how digital technology can influence/ enhance a building.


Our theme task for this week is to divide into groups of five and research an allocated topic - my group's topic is Digitally enhanced exteriors:


BRAINSTORMING IN CLASS:
To begin with we brainstormed some idea we ALREADY had about what is/might be out there:


SMOKE
- the theatre scene from inglorious bastards
- The building disappearing in fog from the tutorial leacture


LIGHT
- laser technology
- Projection
FROM: http://thefoxisblack.com/2011/03/17/building-skin-with-digital-tattoos-of-london/


GLASS
- Reflection
- Suspended Particle Devices (with an electronic switch between opaque and transparent)


MOVEABLE
- Louvers
- Rotating (such as the rotating tower planned in Dubai)
- Component design (moving as in possible to change)
- User activated


LATTICE/LAYERING


MATERIALS
- Lego building
- Plastic building (japan)
- Rubber installation room
- Living walls
- 'Glass public toilet'
- One way mirror (a restaurant & Ripleys Believe It Or Not tongue test)
- Metal (the "Chicago Bean" in Millennium park


WATER BASED


OPTICAL ILLUSIONS
- mad men: falling man
- Escher
- Scale
- Perception
- Depth
- Glass layers
- Distortion


SOUND
- Melbourne drop floor (Skydeck 88 "The Edge")
- William Tell Overture - a road in America designed for a honda ad - a bit out of tune...(this is the best video I could find :S)



HOLOGRAMS


WEATHER BASED
- Heat sensitive (I remember having a heat sensitive toothbrush - maybe possible to create a building surface from a similar material?)
- Weather activated (such as the wind screen they are building on the Brisbane Airport carpark)

PNEUMATIC

- Inflatable

(Click on image for moving sequence)

My 300 words

An activator of space. How do you activate a space that lies stagnant? A space once a central hub, a light of hope during depressing times, and an intersection of four suburbs - but now empty, a space of passing. Road transport passes above, River transport passes by, footpath transport passes quickly through on route, never stopping.

A folie creating pause. It almost fits in, but there is something not quite right which causes intrigue. Stirring somewhere in the back of the mind - a tweak. The first time you might just pass it, but then the little thought itches and itches until the folie becomes a destination.

In design. Too heavy to stay upright, but it does. Overbalancing, you are wary of it as you approach. Slowly you become comfortable of it’s shape and can explore. A resting point with a view - despite the historical disturbia filtering through, higher ground gives a feeling of safety - you can rest your bike or your feet, and relax.

Around the site are so many objects of interest. Old bomb shelters, heritage docking sheds, a structural sculpture of the world expo 88 - none of which you can explore. This folie is about creating an object that appears to grow from the site - to allow an interaction with the site, without compromising the historical elements.

Folie from the site. Elements from the site - concrete and steel. Solid, yet floating, like the bridge so dominant above it. Like it’s concrete counterparts on site, a shelter - from a downpour, from the hot summer sun, or even from the buzz of the city. Brisbane climate at it’s worst. Not a tourist destination, but a local pit stop - an integrated part of social structure again, just on a minute local scale.

A1 Poster

Unfortunately this isn't a very good quality upload - my computer is having a few problems today.

A few renders for the poster...

Site context:
I want my design to sit on the dark side of comfortable, and hopefully this reflects through in the 'site context' image I have composed. It is still waiting on a bit of tweaking, (for example someone pointed out that my birds would have to be almost as big as a car to be scaled right). The site used to be such an important part of the brisbane economy - an integrated part of the CBD, but now, as the shipping industry has moved to the coast, the site is left empty and forgotten, the old bomb shelters adds a part of history that is threatening, and I want my design to reflect both of these.

A 3D view:

Again this image is still waiting for a bit of tweaking, I am still to put people in, and the image itself probably needs a bit more shadow. 

Final alter...

We had tut group and I had two different contradicting thoughts from the two tutors, which actually helped a lot. I also got some good feedback from some of my tut group...


A few thoughts:

• The wall was two flat/ 2D
• The intermingling between the wires and the stairs was distracting from the unbalanced weight (T1)
• The wires were great - but needed to look even more like they were coming out of an old structure (T2)
• There needed to be more interaction between the two materials.

So I went back to SketchUp and did a complete re-tweak:

It's only half rendered - But I like the form a lot more.

Folie sketches

I have been mind mapping site context thoughts, history, materials and contributers for the last week and a half, and getting nowhere, so I started scribbling. I really liked the idea of a touchable history of the wharves, and I was trying to do a walkthrough experience, but the 5 x 5 x 5 constraints was making it near on impossible. So I googled picture timelines, and, decided that it could be something similar. A timeline, with carved shapes, names progressing across the experience.

Again too hard to do as a walkthrough.

So after many useless scribbles I came up with a wall. Very effective, but not very aesthetically appealing.

Back to the mind maps.

After a few scribbled completely different ideas I got in a rut. I didn't want to have to give up on my idea, just because it was too hard, so I looked again at my list of site materials. Finally some inspiration. I was looking at images of old bomb shelters, and one was half fallen down. I started thinking about how you could make that a tactile surface, both for the touchable history, and for a human to interact/climb?? something?

Eventually I came to the below sketch:

I wanted the design to look abandoned, a little dangerous or creepy. There is some nasty parts of history highlighted in this site. The site was once one of the main business hubs of brisbane - but is now next to abandoned. I want my folie to reflect this - to look as if it was part of something bigger, like it has been abandoned, but still has potential.

A photoshop render:

So this is my folie so far. Still a bit of developing, but I think the main components are floating in the design section of my brain now.

Basic Site Plan

Site History

Historically:

centre of Bris port

employment infrastructure building during depression

most intact air-raid shelters left in brisbane

strategic importance of wharves+bridges

pre-1940 port of brisbane

how closley war impacted on brisbane's workers

utilitarian function

Howard Smith Company offices

Aesthetic value - views

creates background for the story bridges impression

6 decades association w HS shipping company

"For the wharves, a reinforced concrete base was laid on the rock at the river's edge, with timber piles rammed into the riverbed. Large hardwood timbers were used for the walings and decking, which extended about 24 feet (8 metres) out over the river. Hundreds of thousands of feet of timber - mostly hardwoods such as ironbark, blue gum, yellow stringybark, spotted gum and messmate - were required to build the berths."

"The threat of invasion by Japan appeared very real at the time, there was a substantial workforce employed at the wharves, and the site was located adjacent to the Story Bridge - a prime target in wartime. Three of the shelters were the usual 'pillbox' style built by the City Council at many places in the inner city and in the suburbs. This was a standard type, rectangular in plan and constructed of concrete. However, the other two shelters at the Howard Smith Wharves were constructed of large stormwater pipes with multiple entrances."

"A large part of the timber decking from both the upper and middle berths was washed away during the 1974 floods."

SITE COMPONENTS:

Wilson Outlook over looks the site to the east

Northern pylons of Story bridge included

2 story reinforced concrete office building (currently walter police)

No. 2 Shed

No. 3 Shed

No. 4 Shed

No. 5 Shed

4 former air-raid shelters

numerous concrete slabs

former air-raid shelter and lavoratory block

This information is notes from the following site:

       Queensland Government. 2009. "Howard Smith Wharves." Accessed March 3, 2011. http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/chims/placeDetail.html?siteId=16518

Project Brief

The aim of this project is to design a Folie in a chosen location in Howard Smith Wharves. This project provides you an opportunity to observe the site, analyse the context, and propose a simple architectural installation that has a function. Your project should be an artistic investigation to find a way to communicate your message (subjective), as well as a design investigation to provide a service for people (objective). You can consider this as an artistic endeavour to design a functional space.

Folie Design Guideline

1. Folie has to fit within 5m x 5m x 5m bounding box.
2. Folie has to be at least for one person.
3. Your design will be evaluated with design criteria listed below.
4. You need to consider all design qualities described below.
5. Your follie design should be communicated through one A1 poster by following the poster guideline below.

Design Criteria: Your design presentation is expected to satisfy following criteria.

Design Concept 
Strong narrative is evident to provide your own interpretation and description of folie design. It is very important that you have a story to tell about your design. Project statement, up to 300 words included in your poster, should help you to describe your concept but you should otherwise not rely on text to tell your story.

Site Context 
Folie demonstrate a good understanding of its immediate context and beyond. Your folie design is appropriate for the context among which it is built. The context should include its immediate environment as well as Howard Smith Wharves at large.

Design Tectonic 
Folie is designed with simple but creative use of structure and materials. The choice of structure and materials should be considered carefully and rigorously.

Design Function 
Folie provides a unique space for users to do something. Your folie should support a simple daily activity such as reading, resting or eating.

Design Experience 
Folie provides a unique possibility for users to experience Howard Smith Wharves. This is an extra layer to the function to induce specific sensations to people experiencing your space. The association has to be made to an aspect of Howard Smith Wharves.

Design Qualities: you need to communicate following aspects in your design.

1. tension and/or compression
2. heavy and/or light
3. solid and/or void
4. bright and/or dark
5. natural/artificial
6. soft/hard
7. comfortable/disturbing
8. choice of materials (Concrete, Steel, Timber, Stone, Glass + other modern materials)

Poster Guideline: Your folie design is to be communicated clearly in one A1 poster.

1. Size: 594mm (width) x 840mm (height) - must be in Portrait (Vertical) orientation.
2. Mounting: Poster has to be mounted on a foamcore and it has to be trimmed to the correct size.